Bonita students learn the arts through educational grant

LA VERNE -- The steady ticks from the metronome kept time as the students sat in pairs scattered around the band room, spilling out to the pathways outside.

The sound of 30-plus guitars practicing riffs, chords and tunes could drive a person crazy, but Ramona Middle School band director Sarah Nelson is in her element. This is a scene she's experienced since her own days as a student, starting out with the trumpet in sixth-grade band.

But as each group of students mastered their playing, something different happened. Rather than have the students play for their teacher, receive credit for the assignment and move on to the next song, Nelson handed each pair an Apple iPad with one simple instruction: Record yourself. "Half the people in music today don't know music, they just learned it by ear," she said. "Their art is the technology part of it ... so our idea is, let's teach these kids about recording in a way that people learn it in the real world."

The five new iPads and Apple TV were funded in part by a grant from the La Verne/San Dimas Educational Foundation. Earmarked specifically for arts education, the foundation gave money to the eight Bonita Unified elementary and five secondary schools.

"The foundation has always tried to support the students and teachers in a variety of different ways and those ways have changed over the years as needs change," said Chuck Coyne, Ed Foundation president.

"With the current budgetary crisis that all school districts find themselves in, one of the areas that is most under the gun for budget cuts is the arts, so for the present time our newest and strongest effort is to support the arts programs."

While some schools used the funding for its literal purpose, bringing in professional artists and supplies for their classes, Lone Hill Middle School expanded its woodshop offerings and San Dimas High School enhanced its capabilities for students to create digital portfolios.

Students from Chaparral High School and VISTA Schools can take advantage of field trips to the theater and museum.

"When cuts start happening, it's the arts that the cuts start nibbling away at, so we try to avoid that," Coyne said. "The grants for the arts are new, this is the second year we've been able to do that."

The Ed Jones Memorial Golf Tournament, which occurs every spring, supports the foundation's art grants as well as other awards, Coyne said.

For the Ramona students in Nelson's guitar class, their projects will grow from recording a simple riff to adding drums, bass and even vocals, Nelson said.

The band students will be able to record their playing tests, giving both teacher and student an easy way to track progress from the beginning of the year to the end.

"That's my goal, to get (all of the music classes) learning how to record and getting feedback on your playing," Nelson said. "It's very eye-opening for them and a great way to learn."